


Steel Song

by clantail (ideallyqualia)



Category: Stella Glow
Genre: Canon Universe, F/F, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-21 15:08:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12460317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideallyqualia/pseuds/clantail
Summary: Giselle has a fake qualia, but she still needs to be tuned, according to Hilda.





	Steel Song

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Exile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Exile/gifts).



Hilda looked at Giselle out of the corner of her eye. She didn't understand Giselle's motivations for escaping with them and leaving Xeno's side. Even though she had been there and heard everything, it was an unconvincing conversation between Giselle and Alto, in Hilda's opinion. Whatever set Giselle down this path began with herself.

She let Giselle escape when the other witches held a tea party, but afterward, she stepped outside to look for her. Despite the sky's growing night darkness, Hilda could still see. The near-immortal status of her existence granted benefits to all of her senses. Ever since she had frozen the clock on her body, she stopped aging, and that included the deterioration of any part of her body, from her eyes to her ears. And over time, without the deterioration, her senses developed and strengthened from use. The only problem was her inability to judge time itself.

Hilda found Giselle floating on top of a stone bench. She faced the moon, her eyes unblinking.

"Don't you need to rest?" Hilda asked.

"Are you referring to sleep? The answer is no." Giselle didn't stop watching the moon.

"So. How do you function? Where do you get your energy?"

"I draw my energy from Mother Qualia. Similarly to how witches send Earth reports to her." She shifted in place, floating a few centimeters to the side. "Veronica asked the same questions."

"Your energy regeneration's automatic, then..." Hilda lifted her head to gaze at the moon along with her. "Can you see all the way to the moon?"

"No. I am still concerned, however."

"You hope to see your master," Hilda said.

"Yes, I do." The hesitating pause before Giselle answered told Hilda that she was uncomfortable with her laying the information out in the open.

"Did you watch everyone on Earth befriend your master as he made plans to betray them?"

"I did."

"How?"

"Master has access to a plethora of technology that the ancient civilization left behind. Having said that, Master's body is not human, and hasn't been since he joined Mother Qualia while Elcrest went to sleep a thousand years ago. He received alterations over time to sustain his life and body past the limitations of humanity, including the ability to automatically report everything to Mother Qualia. It is through these alterations that he granted me access to everything happening on Earth."

"I wonder if even you realize the consequences of what happened between Elcrest, Xeno, and Mother Qualia..."

"Excuse me?"

"You do realize that Xeno was taken advantage of by Mother Qualia, right? He had no choice but to be hijacked by her after he was left by himself on the moon to fend her off by himself."

"I know what happened. I can do nothing about the emotional nuances and moralities of humans, though, so I don't understand what you're implying. Was this a terrible thing to have happened?"

Hilda's face hardened. "Xeno probably went through a lot of pain to be brainwashed by her. Elcrest had to be put to sleep with healing magics applied to him to survive, along with a thousand years time to recover. Xeno isn't the same man we knew him to be. Your master might well be just an extension of Mother Qualia."

Giselle's eyes flashed. "Are you insulting Master Xeno?"

"No. I am just wondering how much you really know about him. Did you ever meet him before he was corrupted by Mother Qualia?"

"No."

"Did you not exist at that time then?"

"Correct, I didn't."

"So you know absolutely nothing about him from then?"

Giselle shifted again. "No."

"You don't even have records to look at?"

"No."

"I ask all this because it's remarkable that you revere him without even knowing anything about the old him. He was a much better man back when I personally knew him."

"Oh." Giselle lowered herself until her feet touched the floor. She stood at Hilda's height. "How was...what was he like?"

"Very kind. He took care of his friends with sincere affection. He was also knowledgeable, clever, powerful, skilled, and charismatic. He was a great leader." Hilda frowned, unable to hide her regret.

"Is this a difficult topic for you? If so, I'm sorry," Giselle said.

"No, it's alright. Besides, I'm curious; you really don't have any records of him? I would've thought that you'd have _something_ with such advanced technology at your disposal, like the ability to record video." Hilda didn't know much about video, but she knew Veronica had the technology to record it.

"No I don't. Should I?" Giselle tilted her head.

"I don't know if you should _have_ that technology, but if you do, you should use it, often. Record everything so you don't regret it later. Take my advice, from someone who's also lived a long time." Hilda stretched her arms up. "It's getting late. I'm going to sleep. See you tomorrow, Giselle."

"See you, Hilda," Giselle repeated. She drifted to float above the castle, watching the moon again.

 

* * *

 

Under the mission of "free time," Giselle approached Hilda. "I'd like to speak to you more about Master Xeno."

"Would you like to talk about anything in specific?"

"The moment when Xeno was corrupted by Mother Qualia. You said he was taken advantage of by her."

Hilda fought down a surprised grunt to her throat. "He was, but...I didn't think you'd want to talk about that."

"What's wrong with this topic?"

Hilda closed her eyes for a moment. "Xeno lost himself when he was corrupted. It doesn't bother you that he was attacked like that?"

Giselle glanced at the floor. "You say that was an attack."

"It was. Even if he wasn't physically harmed, it was an attack on his mind and heart. ...Actually I think he was hurt physically, too. Something that intense had to inflict physical damage," Hilda added.

"That sounds typical of a qualia-borne illness or injury."

"Qualia can become ill?" Hilda raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean the usual corruption that happens when a qualia isn't tuned?"

"Precisely. An injury, however, is not something to be expected. According to the information Mother Qualia gave me, if intense corruption occurs, then the qualia is overwhelmed. Damage can spread to even the physical realm of the qualia's existence. Likewise the opposite can happen: if physical damage is inflicted on a qualia, it can yield disastrous effects."

"Mind over matter..." Hilda muttered. She crossed her arms. "More importantly... Mother Qualia told you? How?"

"Mother Qualia can report to us the way witches report to her."

"Mother Qualia has never reported to me."

"That's because it would be detrimental to her. You intend to interfere with her plans." Giselle closed her eyes. "She's only reported to me once, when I received my qualia."

"You have a qualia too?" Hilda asked with a restrained gasp. The bubble of air instead traveled back down her throat, sustaining her chest with a light feeling.

"My qualia isn't the same as yours. To put it in easy terms, my qualia is fake. It can't reproduce magic."

"How is it real...? What was it made from?"

"Not from Mother Qualia herself, like your qualia. Mine is artificial, like this angel body of mine." Giselle flourished her hand to demonstrate her body and ability.

Hilda narrowed her eyes. "You said that the attack on Xeno's mind and heart sounded like an attack on a qualia. Are you saying that Xeno has a qualia, too?"

Giselle lowered her hand and stared back at her. "When Master joined Mother, he was selected for angel modification, but I don't know if he proceeded far enough along in the plan to receive a qualia. He didn't tell me. And he needed a large amount of time to acclimate to multiple incremental modifications, leaving him unable to report every modification to me."

"He needed a large amount of time? Even hundreds of years?"

Giselle nodded. "He is the epitome of angelhood."

"In the end, even you don't know everything about Xeno."

"I don't." Giselle's mouth twitched.

Hilda didn't suspect that Giselle actually didn't know everything about him, but after Giselle joined them she considered, and this proved it. Giselle truly had a sincere motive for betraying Xeno's side. ...For him.

Hilda gathered her eyes into a penetrating gaze again. "If you have a qualia, even if it's fake, then you should be able to connect with it. Can you?"

"Connect?" Giselle blinked. "I'm not connected to Mother Qualia right now. She disengaged ever since I deactivated my self-destruction sequence."

"That's not what I meant. Witches use their qualia as a conduit into their minds. Once all of the emotions between the qualia and the witch are connected, the qualia can summon magic, according to the witch's will. You say you can't use magic, but you still might have other benefits that only someone with a qualia can have." Hilda squinted. "Can you sing?"

Giselle's eyes flashed. Hilda could imagine the inner workings of her artificial brain processing to understand. "I've never tried."

"Sing. Try it right now."

Giselle opened her mouth. Nothing came out.

"Try to..." Hilda's train of thought died as she ran into reality. She didn't know how to describe or teach singing. "Just copy me, what I do." Hilda held a hand out as she sang a small song.

It wasn't a song, really. It was a string of notes that flowed well together. Hilda didn't understand the mechanics and theory of good music and songwriting, those were dead fields of study, but she could feel with a sense in her heart that a group of wordless sounds fit together.

Giselle nodded. "I see." She opened her mouth again, this time forcing air and sound out.

She sustained a breathless jingling note that lasted a few seconds before devolving into a shrill screech. Hilda covered her ears.

"Stop, stop!"

Giselled snapped her mouth closed. "What was wrong?"

"I'm not sure. For a second there though you were definitely singing." Hilda glanced back at the castle. "You should see Alto about being tuned."

"But I'm not a witch."

"You have a qualia. I think that's all that matters. Come to think of it, there's a witch that used to be unable to sing, despite having a qualia. You might want to see her too. Ask Alto about her."

"Alright. Thank you for the advice."

"No problem. Hopefully it'll help you fight better."

Giselle nodded and hurried away.

Hilda walked to the room assigned to her. They were both headed for the castle, but Hilda deliberately moved slower, hoping to avoid extra conversation.

Aside from Alto and the witches, everyone in Lambert avoided Hilda. Word had flown that she was the destruction witch that had sealed several towns into crystal, and with her foreign clothes, it wasn't difficult to describe and pinpoint her, even without knowing the identities of all the witches. It was entirely her own fault for the misunderstanding.

Hilda locked the door behind herself and lied down in her bed. The other Harbingers were housed in rooms nearby, but Hilda didn't want to talk to anyone at all. Locking the door would mean to everyone that she was out, and Hilda was fine with that kind of minor misunderstanding. If she wasn't planning on physically resting by lying down, she would've found a place outside to be alone.

Hilda thought about her old kingdom. She wasn't sure if Lambert's citizens were also aware that she was over a thousand years old, and that she had been the queen of Fahrenheit, but if they did, it would spell further problems. All that would do would establish precedence for her behavior. She had an entire kingdom of crystallized and dead citizens to account for.

She wasn't sure if they were truly dead. If Alto could revive his old town and see his adopted mother again, then there could be a chance, but at the same time Hilda knew that was unrealistic. It was also too much hope for someone who had already resigned herself to killing everyone and accepting that it was her responsibility.

Hilda fell asleep dreaming about the crystallizing song, song of ruin.

 

* * *

 

Giselle and Alto both joined Hilda at lunch the next day.

"Giselle told me you wanted me to tune her and introduce her to Lisette?"

Hilda nodded as she sipped a glass of water, directing her gaze into the glass. "She has an artificial qualia. We should explore her options and prepare her for fighting other angels."

"Well, the tuning failed." Alto sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. I did the best I could do, but Giselle's qualia didn't respond."

"That's...strange," Hilda decided on saying.

Giselle tilted her head. "I was hoping to hear your opinion, and possibly a diagnosis."

"I'm as clueless as you two. But I'm not sure why you'd have a qualia if you can't be tuned or sing. There has to be a reason."

"Giselle can't use magic at all." Alto stopped eating and crossed his arms. "You really can't think of anything?"

"No," Hilda said. "What did Lisette say? Any revelations there?"

"None," Giselle said. "I wasn't built with any emotional capacities. Her problems are her own."

"I guess I should've expected as much." Hilda sighed. "Why don't you know anything about your own qualia, Giselle?"

"There wasn't any reason for me to know. That knowledge was reserved for--"

"Master, of course." Hilda lowered her head to rest on her propped hand. "Xeno has all of the information and the advantage."

"...Maybe her qualia doesn't have any impurities or anything wrong with it?" Alto asked. "The reason I tune you is because of that, and that only."

"Since my qualia is artificial, it would make sense for it to be created to be perfect."

"But it's not usable," Hilda said. "At least in its current state."

"That is also true," Giselle said.

Hilda screwed her mouth into a tight frown to hide her irritation. "This might not have been such a good idea after all," she said in a forced voice.

Alto continued to eat, and Giselle stared at his and Hilda's plates of food.

Hilda thought back to Elcrest. That time period was so long ago that she barely remembered the specific circumstances that led up to Mother Qualia obliterating humanity. She couldn't remember if she knew any technolomies, or when Mother Qualia was born, or anything about the pre-Mother Qualia night sky and moon. She knew fighting, and she knew Elcrest and the other witches. While it was clear that Elcrest and Alto were the same person...Hilda didn't have any of the same feelings for Alto as she did for Elcrest. Her love wasn't immortalized like crystal, it was dead.

"Hilda, tell me about your time magic," Giselle said.

Hilda's eyes shifted over to her. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything you think would be helpful. Learning about your magic might increase the chances of my qualia producing an effect."

Hilda took one last bite and stood to clear her dishes. "Follow me. I'll show you."

After she handed them to a servant, she led Giselle outside. Despite the debris and quiet, the sun filled the sky with sunshine, the ideal weather for any kind of training.

"My time magic isn't any specific element like the other witches," Hilda said. "I can freeze, accelerate, decelerate, and rewind time."

"Do you have to sing to do it?"

"Not always. It depends."

When Giselle returned her look with a blank expression, Hilda added, "It's something you have to learn and feel for when you have magic."

"That sounds particularly emotional." Giselle glanced at the ground. "Maybe there's a reason why I can't use my qualia."

"Since my time magic can rewind time, I can use an item for attack and then return it to its original state. Time can also be used to maneuver an object through space, relying on the time it would've spent in its space." Hilda held her hands out and began to sing.

Sometimes witch song came accompanied with instruments, magically conjured through the emotion and mechanics of song magic. Sometimes witch song had the witch's own voice as accompaniment, as if her song had a harmonic reflection. The song of ruin was such a case; it was all the more eerie for it. As Hilda sang it to demonstrate its power, she heard several versions of herself singing, and she became lost, unable to determine which voice was the one that actually came from her throat.

A cluster of budding flowers in front of them became swallowed in crystal. Giselle stooped to inspect them when Hilda finished.

"That was the rumored song of ruin?"

"Yes. It's not bound to any element, so I'm sure any of the other witches can sing it. You don't have an element, so you might be able to, too. Try it."

Giselle clasped her hands together and opened her mouth to raise her voice. Hilda realized her own hands were held together to sing, and she hurried to hide them behind her back.

"Concentrate on sealing only one thing within crystal, and make sure it's small and precise. I'm sure someone like you can understand that."

A blade of grass twitched before crystal stalked up its sides, slowly engulfing it in a shining blue casing of hard rock. Giselle stopped.

"How was that?"

"Th-that was impressive," Hilda said in a slight stammer. "You couldn't do a thing before. What changed?"

"I don't know," Giselle confessed.

Hilda scratched her chin. "Maybe this was specific enough for you to understand... I don't know what to say about your inability to be tuned, though."

"Maybe we should try again?" Giselle turned. "I'll ask Alto."

 

* * *

 

Alto walked up to Hilda with Giselle in tow. "I give up," he said.

Hilda raised her eyebrow. "It didn't work?"

"No. Not at all." Alto clapped his hands together and lowered his head. "Please don't ask me to do this again."

"It was that bad?"

"I can't tune an _angel_ ," he said.

Hilda glanced at Giselle. She was unaffected by his complaint.

"What exactly happened?"

"I tried talking to her, but it was hard, and nothing happened."

Hilda sighed. She was starting to wonder how Alto and Elcrest were related at all; she definitely loved Elcrest, but this person, she didn't know. She could only feel pity and second hand embarrassment in his low moments.

"Alright, you don't have to try anymore. I'll take over if she wants anything."

"Really? Thanks." Alto gave Hilda a warm smile and left.

Hilda faced Giselle and felt a pang of sympathy for her, too. She could understand being helplessly passed on to someone else like a burden.

"What do you know about music, Giselle?"

Giselle rumbled in thought. "I can read some musical texts, if you'd like."

"So nothing, then." Hilda released a long sigh. "I wouldn't even know where to begin with that, but if you can search the castle's or the town's library, you might be able to find books on music or music theory."

"Thank you. I'll do that." Giselle turned.

"Also, Giselle." Giselle waited. "Please give them to me when you're done. I'd like to take a look. No stone left unturned, they say."

"Okay. Order taken." Giselle hurried away, leaning into her floating walk with purpose.

 

* * *

 

Hilda stared at the open book on her knees. She had been napping again, but when Giselle knocked, insistently, as if she didn't fall for Hilda's "the door's locked so I must be out" ruse, Hilda didn't bother to get dressed to let her in. She remained in her pajamas with her hair down.

"Here." Giselle handed her another book. "This one has no theory in it, I'm afraid."

"Don't bother. Leave it on the floor. I've already read enough books without theory in it."

Giselle threw the book at the wall, and it flew in an effortless glide, as if it could also levitate. It landed flat in front of the wall.

By now Hilda understood something important about magic and song that she hadn't thought of before. Music required melody and rhythm, but most of all it required the concept of time itself; it needed a consistent form of measurement to follow. Hilda understood that quickly.

"I'd like to try something with you, if you don't mind," Hilda said.

Giselle lifted her head. "What is it?"

"Come with me to the tuning hall."

"But Alto said--"

"He said he was done, but that doesn't mean I can't try something. Come with me." Hilda closed the current book and placed it on the nightstand. "Just let me get dressed first."

"Why do you need to get dressed? You're already dressed. You look fine."

Hilda glanced down at her clothes. "Have you never seen pajamas before?"

"No."

"They're clothes specifically meant for sleeping. Sometimes people wear them to be comfortable. No one wears them outside," Hilda said.

"Why is that?"

"It's considered sloppy and bad manners."

"I understand following the customs of manners, but you still look...beautiful," Giselle chose to say.

Hilda choked, her answer dying in her mouth. "Why the change? Just say I look fine."

"Apparently that didn't mean anything to you, but beautiful did."

Hilda pointed at the door, flushing angrily, but only at herself. "Get out."

"What did I do?"

"Didn't you hear what I said? I need to get dressed. That has to be done alone."

Giselle bought the answer and floated out the door. Hilda covered her face with a hand for a moment, lost in thought.

 

* * *

 

 

Minutes later she stepped outside, and Hilda led them to the tuning hall. Medea smiled.

"What brings my lovely gilded bird here again? And you as well, fair voice of time?" Medea asked.

"I want to try to tune Giselle," Hilda said.

Medea laughed. She maintained a low soft laugh, but Hilda could tell that she was dying on the inside, her face going pink from restraint. "You want to tune her? How fearless! Normally I'd say no to such a request, but I can't turn down this possibility. Go ahead." Medea waved at the entrance with a flourish.

Hilda took the lead and went inside. She forewent the revealing clothes and walked straight in, confident from experience. The tuning hall hadn't changed in the thousand years of disuse, thanks to the court musicians, and she also had the recent uncomfortable memory of being tuned by Alto himself. She knew the routine.

"I don't know what went wrong with Alto's attempt, but I'm going to do something undoubtedly different. I'm going to use time magic," Hilda said.

Giselle's face didn't change. "If that's what you think is best."

Hilda held her hands out and sang. All of the witches had songs that they preferred to sing for various uses, especially with battle and with each of them honing only one song for the purpose, but any of them could sing any song they wished, and as long as it came from the heart and resonated with their qualia, it could work. Hilda chose to sang an old song she used to know, a song that came and went like the cycles of the seasons and moon. She had learned it during the thousand year lapse of Elcrest's sleep, and she had forgotten it long before Alto woke up. All that was left of it was the words, melody, and echo of its original meaning. Hilda wanted nothing else for her current song choice.

Hilda wasn't sure what else Alto did to make tuning happen, so she willed Giselle's spirit world to appear, weaving the emotion of the wish into the song. She felt her voice shift the way it slipped into a new note. Their surroundings shifted and shimmered, too, and Hilda noticed the beginnings of a spirit world beckon.

Hilda stopped singing. The confidence of victory quickly fell apart and gave way to slight panic. Now Hilda could understand why Alto fumbled so much with the witches; the emotional task was daunting.

"Is this a spirit world?" Giselle asked. Her voice sounded distant, and her own body was a shadow, an actual shadow bathed in darkness.

"Yes. Witches come here to reach deep into their minds and hearts. The conductor helps purify it." Hilda glanced around.

She didn't recognize most of the images floating and weaving around them. Some were shadows of whiteness, white as bone and decorated with wings. 

"This is your heart... I have no idea what goes on in your mind," Hilda said. "Do you have any major problems bothering you?"

"No. Everything's functioning normally."

"That's not what I meant. Is anything on your mind? Like your Master? After all, the only reason you joined us is because of him."

"Anything...on my mind?" The hovering of Giselle's body fluctuated for a moment. "I don't consider anything unusual."

"Well if we're here, that means something's wrong. Unless you confess, we won't be able to leave."

Giselle hesitated in place. "I am...worried about Master. I am supposed to protect him, but I also know I shouldn't have worry and concern."

"Alright. Then why are you worried about him?"

"There's a chance he'll be hurt."

"Why are you concerned about him? What makes him special to you?" Hilda asked.

"He is my master. He is the strongest and best, and he shares the same reason of existence. He is also older than me and is a great leader. This is what your kind would call family, right?"

Hilda tried to keep herself from frowning, but she couldn't. "I don't think you quite understand it, but that doesn't matter. You said you know you shouldn't worry but you do. That is probably inevitable if you're supposed to protect your master."

"Even if I'm just an angel?"

"Even then. It doesn't matter what you are. You don't just follow exact orders, do you? You probably have the authority to act on your discretion. You have free will. That might even be what the qualia's for. If Mother Qualia thought they could completely control a qualia the same programmed way they use an angel, they were wrong." 

Giselle's silhouette flickered. 

"You need to remember that Xeno used to be human, even if he isn't anymore. And part of being human is contradicting yourself with the realism of feelings. Maybe you should start to try being human to understand him."

"How?" Giselle asked.

"You're going to have to start finding other things to care about."

"I'll start with you, then."

"What?" Hilda nearly choked in surprise.

"I want to understand what you say and mean. You are the one who has given me the most advice. Help me understand," Giselle said, her voice wavering. 

At first, Hilda thought she was hesitating again, finally reflecting it in her voice, but the magical pressure in the air changed her mind. Giselle's body was reappearing and disappearing, splitting into more shadows. The sounds of her mechanical battle claws coming out were distorted.

Hilda called her scythe into existence. She was prepared for this, at least.

**Author's Note:**

> (General A/N): Not looking for concrit; don't leave any.


End file.
